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UNDER A RESOLUTION OF 9tH JANUARY LAST, 


RELAWVE TO 


WITIUN THIS aiM.MONWKALTW. 


READ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESEM AlTVEb, 

MARCH 16, 1833. 


HARRISBURG: 

PRINTED BT HENRY WELSH. 

1833. 







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IlEPOllT, &c. 


Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, > 
Harrisburg, March 15, 1833 . 3 

To the Speaker of the House of liepresentatives. 

SIR — In compliance with a resolution of the House of Repre- 
sentatives of the 9th January last, “ That the Secretary of the Com- 
monwealth be requested to obtain, from the commissioners of the 
several counties of this state, a statement, to be laid before this 
House at as early a day as possible, of the number of children 
schooled at public expense in each county for the last four years, 
together with the sums annually expended for their instruction 
during those years, designating the number instructed in Lancas- 
terian schools, with such other information in relation to the state 
of education in Pennsylvania as he may deem useful and impor- 
tant,” a circular letter was, on the same day, addressed to the 
commissioners of each county in the commonwealth, desiring that 
an immediate communication might be made to this department, 
embracing a detail of the information required by the resolution. 
On the 5th and the 25th ultimo, repeated applications were made 
to the commissioners of those counties from which no replies had 
been received up to those respective dates. I transmit with this 
communication, a tabular abstract of the reports so far as received. 

In the forty-nine counties heard from, the average number of 
children returned under the act of the 4th of April, 1809, during 
the year 1829, was 15,002. The amount expended under provi- 
sions of the same act, was g46,850 54|. In the year 1830, the 
number returned was 15,839-— the amount expended, g51,859 10|. 
In the year 183U the number returned was ir,224-~the amount 
expended, g52,331 40^. And in the year 1832, the number re- 
turned was 17,467 — the amount expended, 5548,466 25. 

Under the second and last clause of the resolution of the House, 
which directs the Secretary to communicate “ such other informa- 
tion in relation to the state of education in Pennsylvania, as he may 
deem useful and important,” I have prepared and send herewith, 
a schedule of universities, colleges, and academies created by our 
laws, all, or nearly all of which have been, from time to time, 
liberally endowed by donations in money from the treasury and 
grants from the public domain, designating the year in which they 
were severally instituted, amounting to two universities, eight col- 
leges, aad fifty -five academies^ and I take occasion here to remark, 


4 


that it will be found, on examination, that no other branch of fhc^ 
public interest has produced more frequent and voluminous legis- 
lation, than that ot education. The numerous acts on this subject 
would make a volume of considerable size, and yet it may well be 
doubted whether any important matter of public concernment has 
been less benefitted by the direct action of the government; and 
it is a lamentable fact that, at this advanced period, Pennsylvania 
is without a general system of free schools established by laWt 
agreeably to the constitution. By a reference to the statute books, 
it will be found that all public grants for the purposes ot education, 
in Pennsylvania, whether in shape of money or land, prior to 1831, 
have been exclusively confined to institutions, accessible to the 
rich alone. Without questioning the constitutionality or ge- 
neral expediency of this course, I may nevertheless be permitted 
to say that, to ray mind, the practice which has partially obtained 
sinoe the year 1795, in the endowment of colleges, academies, &c. 
to annex a condition that a few poor children should be taught for 
a limited period, free from expense, ought to be considered rather 
as an apology for the postponement of a palpable duty, than the 
fulfilment of a wise and humane provision of the constitution, which* 
says that “the Legislature shall, as soon as conveniently may be, 
provide by law for the establishment of schools throughout the state, 
in such manner that the poor may be taught gratis.’’ 

The people, the true source of all power, have, in the constitu- 
tion, which is the work of their hands, ordained and decreed that 
the “ arts and sciences shall be promoted in one or more seminar 
rics of learning;” this wholesome provision was promptly complied 
with; at an early period of the government, institutions devoted to 
the higher branches of education were established, and have been 
endowed at public expense, at various times, in all not much less 
than half a million of dollars; and whatever diflference of opinioa 
may exist as to the manner in which those funds have been manag- 
ed, I know of no one who has questioned the constitutionality of 
the grants. 

The people have also, in the same constitution, ordained and> 
decreed, “ that schools shall be established by law throughout the 
state, in such manner that the poor may be taught gratis” — this 
has been neglected. There is no law in Pennsylvania that pro- 
vides tor tlie establishment of schools throughout the state, nor has 
there been a dollar granted from the public treasury for the exclu- 
sive purpose of educating the poor. “ The poor may bi taught 
gratis” — this is the poor man’s boon, and, save his personal privi- 
leges, it may be called his only constitutional heritage. The rich 
may work, but the poor must w’ork or suffer; the wealthy may hire 
his substitute, but the poor man, in time of war, must fight the 
battles of his country; and is it not right) is it not just, as it ia 
constitutional, that his children should be taught gratis? It is the 
industrious poor, taken as a class, who are the real producers of 
the necessaries and comforts of social life; it is the labouring man 


Ivho daily adds to the common mass of material wealth, though her 
receive of it himself only a mere pittance. If the maxim be true,, 
that knowledge is power, and liberty itself but a precarious bless- 
ing without it, then its general diffusion becomes the common in- 
terest of all our citizens, in proportion to the extent each may have» 
personal and pecuniary, to defend and protect. Intelligence may, 
then, be considered the mental commonwealth, and of course, of 
universal interest; and it is believed, by the most experienced, that 
the only plan that can effectually reach that class intended to be 
provided for by the co-nstitution, is the system of general free 
schools, where all may meet for the attainment of this great object 
of common interest, without the legal recognition of the odious 
distinction of “ rich and poor.” Owing to the imaginary degra- 
dation arising from this distinction, it is believed, of the whole 
number of poor, not exceeding two hundred, which are provided 
for in colleges and academies, a still less number are found willing 
to accept benefits on terms thus humiliating. Would it not, then,, 
be better that all distinctions calculated lo produce comparative 
degradation, be unknown to our laws, especially in reference to 
the subject of mental improvement? and from hence, let it be dili- 
gently taught, that the improvement of the mind is not alone the 
subject of individual enterprise in a free government, but that in- 
telligence and freedom are to each other as cause and effect, and 
let it be a part of our system, to teach the true relation that exists 
between knowledge and liberty; and that as the happiness of man^ 
simple man, is the ultimate and legitimate end of all government, 
so ought it to be the all-engrossing attention and constant effort of 
all who govern, to make man, collective man, wise and virtuous, 
to Ihe end that he may be happy. 

Every days* experience demonstrates, and all history teaches, < 
that in the same ratio that education and knowledge has been dis- 
seminated among the great mass of community, it has demanded, 
and generally obtained, political freedom; and thus have beeiv 
reared, from time to time, the ramparts of liberty against the en- 
croachments of tyranny: and as the spread of knowledge has given- 
birth to civil liberty, so is its increase and extension necessary to 
give it character and durability; and after all, man will be more or 
less the creature of circumstance. From the very nature of things^ 
inequality in society will exist, but let it be as nearly graded 
as is compatible with human nature itself; let not the rights and 
enjoyments of the opulent be disturbed; at the same time let na- 
tive talent have due credit for bursting the chains of indigence; let 
rational piety and true virtue be cherished, although they be found 
in the huir.ble8t walks of life, and let them receive their proper 
rank; but let not all the honours due to these be lavished on favour- 
ed objects, enfeebled by that indolence which is too frequently the' 
concomitant of affluence, merely because the chance that gave thenv 
birth, bestowed also the right to hereditary wealth. 

Under the specious title of An act to provide for the educatioa 


of the poor gratis, ’Ms the law of the 4th April, 1809, and from 
'which we derive the onlv general authority in reference to the 
education of the poor as a state system, and which has generally 
proved as abortive in its operation, as it is delusive in its title. This 
law provides, that all children between the ages of five and tweive 
y^ears, w'hose parents are unable to pay for their schooling, may be 
sent to the most convenient school, to be paid for out of the county 
funds. This system, while it compels the recipient of its benefits 
first to record his own stigma, and recognises, in their most excep- 
tionable forms, the distinction of rich and poor, carefully avoids 
the appropriation of a dollar out of the public treasury for the edu- 
cation of the poor; and though it has been contended by some that 
this law does all that the constitution requires, it is flagrantly de- 
ficient in its most essential feature, viz. “ the establishment of 
schools throughout the state.” It may be proper here to remark, 
that the number of poor children exhibited by this report, as having 
been returned by the different assessors throughout the state, fur- 
nishes no just criterion of the number who have been actually 
taught, or of the portion of time each may have been at school, it 
being well ascertained that on account of the supposed disgrace 
which attaches to acknowledged poverty, many poor children who 
ought to be, are not returned, and many who are returned, do not 
go to school at all, and others very irregularly. 

That this system has materially failed to produce the contem- 
plated and desired results, is clearly evinced by public opinion 
uniting in its condemnation; as specimens of which, I insert below 
various extracts from letters elicited under the resolution of the 
House. 

The commissioners of one county, in givihg their statement, 
say — “The present system is decidedly bad, and the teachers, 
with very few exceptions, worse than the system.** 

Another report says — “ VVe have no Schools on the Lancasterian 
plan, in this county, and it is deeply to be regretted that, from the 
manner in which our common schools are conducted, not only the 
education of those children whose parents are able to pay for their 
tuition, but of the poor children, is ia a deplorable condition.*’ 

A third says — “ That it ('the present system) is a system of 
prodigality and wasteful extravagance, a real burden upon the peo- 
ple, without accomplishing, in any reasonable manner, the end in- 
tended.” 

A fourth — “The system of education in this county, is de- 
plorably bad, and calls loudly for reform ** 

A fifth says — “ The commissioners would beg leave to observe, 
that the present system is very defective, as well as expensive, and 
that it does not answer the purpose for which it was established; 
because the modest and unassuming poor do not avail them- 
selves of the benefits of the system, on account of the odium that 
is by some attached to the present mode of education, which 
creates a distinction between the rich and the poor, not con- 


7 


sistent with the freedom of our republican irtstitutions, and ope- 
rates very frequently to the defeat of the constitutional object, — 
the education of the poor at the public expense. And it is a further 
objection, made by many of our intelligent citizens, to the present 
system, that no provision is made for enquiring into the qualifica- 
tions, moral and literary, of the persons employed as teachers. 
They would therefore suggest, through you, to the Legislature, the 
propriety of changing the present mode of educating the poor, for 
one more congenial to the feeling of this republican commonwealth, 
and introduce in lieu thereof, a system ol common school instruc- 
tion similar to that of our eastern states, or such an one as they in 
their wisdom shall think calculated to do away the odious system 
now in use.’’ 

It will be perceived, that the introduction of the Lancasterian or 
monitorial system of instruction, continues to be retarded. This 
fact must necessarily be a source of much regret; and, when it is 
recollected that five children may receive all the benefits of school- 
ing upon this plan, at the same cost that it requires to educate 
two upon the system in general use, cannot but excite surprise. 

It cannot fail of being a source of the sincerest pleasure and 
exultation to every patriot and philanthropist, to witness the re- 
presentatives of the people engaging in this ^rcat work of mental 
improvement, with a zeal and earnestness designed to elevate the 
character of man, and the precursor of countless blessings to after 
generations. The grand impediment to the commencement of a gen-f 
eral system of free schools in Pennsylvania, hitherto, may be fairly 
chargeable to the want of a distinct fund for that purpose, and the 
fear of meeting the responsibility of adopting measures for its crea- 
tion and accumulation. The obstacle has at length been in a great 
measure removed, by the act of the 2d April, 1831, providing for 
a general system of education, which sets apart as a common 
school fund, the proceeds arising from unpatented lands, fees in 
the land offices, and all monies received in pursuance of the pro- 
visions of the fourth section of an act to increase the county rates 
and levies for the use of the commonwealth, passed the twenty- 
fifth day of March, 1831, the proceeds of which will, on the 2d of 
April next, amount to not less than three hundred and four thou- 
sand dollars. This sum, with the amount annually accruing, 
under the provisions of the act aforesaid, is chargeable upon the in- 
ternal improvement fundj at a compound interest of 5 per cent, 
until it shall annually amount to at least 8100,000. Assuming, in 
some measure, the operation of the law for the present year, as the 
basis, this sum will be at the disposal of the Legislature, for the 
promotion of free schools throughout the state, on or about the 1st 
of April, 1839. This fund, from which we may fondly anticipate 
great and lasting benefits, owes its origin to the unceasing exer- 
tions of the present Chief Magistrate, who, in his memorable mes- 
sage of the 14th January, 1830, in giving to the General Assembly 


8 


information of the state of the commonwealth,” among other 
things, urged its forniation in the strongest terms. The self ac- 
cumulating principles contained in our present system for raising 
a school fund for the promotion of popular education, which im- 
poses a merely nominal tax of only one-tenth part of a cent on a 
dollar of the assessed valuation of taxable property, and which is 
applied immediately for purposes of internal improvement, and 
pledged ultimately for the promotion of free schools throughout the 
commonwealth, if perpetuated and the Legislature should deem it 
right, from and after the year 1 639, to convert the means for raising 
a school fund agreeably to the provisions of the act of the £d of 
April, 1831, into a school revenue, making a moderate allowance 
for the increase of the assessed valuation of property, cannot fail 
of producing a sum not less than three hundred thousand dollars 
per annumj which sum, added to one hundred thousand, being the 
interest at live per cent, arising from the fund of not less than two 
millions of dollars, which will be then accumulated, would place 
at the disposal of the Legislature, for the purposes of free schools, 
from and after the year 1840, from this source alone, a sura not less 
than four hundred thousand dollars per annum, with the probable 
increase of revenue equal to the increased demand consequent up- 
on the increase of population. Such a state of things, it is believed, 
would place Pennsylvania on an equal, if not more favorable po- 
sition, as the patron of popular education, than has been exhibited 
by any other state in the Union in so limited a period and by a pro- 
cess so simple and easy. 

It seems to be generally admitted, by those who have turned 
their attention to the subject, that the state of New York has in 
operation decidedly the most comprehensive and efficient system 
of general education, regulated by law. that is now extant. The 
first attempt in that state to raise a school fund was made in 1795, 
by means of small annual appropriations from the state treasury, 
and like all other important and beneficial innovations, met at first 
with fierce opposition, arising from the prejudices of early and 
confirmed habit. The spirit of enlightened liberality however 
prevailed, and in 1805 a more solid foundation for the magnificent 
superstructure she has since raised, was laid by the passage of a 
law for setting apart the net proceeds of the sales of five hundred 
fhousand acres of unappropriated public land, to form a “ perma- 
nent fund for the support of common schools,” to which was added 
in the same year three thousand shares of bank stock owned by the 
state, with a provision that no distribution to its ultimate object 
should be made until the annual interest should amount to a sum 
not less than fifty thousand dollars; since which, various other 
sources, such as quit rents, fees of clerks of certain courts, pro- 
ceeds arising from the sale of certain town lots, have been added 
to the iund. In 1811 and 12, measures were taken to organize 
pursuant to law, a general system of common schools, and the 
first distribution of mpney under its provisions was made in 1816, 


9 


Amounting to g55,720 98. An all important effect produced by 
the benevolence and liberality of the government of that state, ahdi 
which example I have no doubt would be followed by our own 
citizens under similar circumstances is, that each school district 
raises by means of tax or voluntary contribution for school pur- 
poses, a sum not less, and frequently much greater, than that 
granted by the state. 

Since 1816, the number of children taught, and the amount of 
money expended under their present system, have regularly in- 
creased, until, in the last year, 1832, we have the sublime specta- 
cle of 507,105 pupils, without distinction, receiving regular and 
constant instruction, upon uniform principles, under the direct 
supervision of the government, at an expense of about one million 
of dollars, or not much exceeding two dollars per scholar; whilst 
Pennsylvania, for. the same year, with equal wealth and a popula- 
tion not vastly inferior in number to that of New York, presents 
the lamentable contrast of 17,467 children, not educated, but re- 
turned as subjects entitled to receive instruction, under a system 
condemned by universal public opinion and experience, and that 
too at an expense of g48,466 25. The impolicy of our past legis- 
lation is not on account of the amount expended, so much as the 
multiplicity of institutions upon which it has been bestowed, with- 
out system and without effect. If the public bounty, to the amount 
before mentioned, had been judiciously confined to a limited 
number of seminaries for instructing the higher branches, and the 
energies of the state properly applied to the promotion of common 
tree schools, the beneficial results at this day would be incalcu- 
lable. Error becomes criminal, when persisted in contrary to the 
lights of reason and experience; and whatever may extenuate/or 
want of precedence and analogy in the past, nothing can justify 
a similar course in future. Every thing proves to us that we 
have greatly erred, and it is now the highest virtue to retract and 

do our works over” — revise our early efforts, and adopt some 
system, the general usefulness of which shall shew, that we have 
profited by the lessons of experience. 

I have the honor to be, very respectfully. 

Your obedient servant, 

SAMUEL M’KRAN. 


On motion, 

Ordered, That three thousand copies in the English, and two 
thousand in the German language, of this report, be printed for 
distribution. 

Extract from the Journal, 

FRS. R. SliUNK^ Clerk. 


2 


IG 


iiisit of Universities, Colleges and Academies, in 
Pennsylvania, with the date of their institution. 


University of Pennsylvania, 

Western University, 

Dickinson College, 

Franklin “ 

Jefferson “ 

Washington 

Allegheny 

La Fajetle “ 

Madison “ 

Pennsylvania “ 

Germantown Academy, 

Pittsburg 

A. D. 1755 
1820 

1783 
1787 
1802 
1806 
1815 
1826 
1&27 
1832 

1784 
1787 

Philadelphia Episcopal Academy, 
Reading it * 

ib. 

1788 

Newtown 


1790 

York 

t( 

1799 

Ghambersburg 

a 

ib. 

Beaver 

IC 

1803 

Northumberland 

i'i 

1804 

Norristown 

it 

ib. 

Easton 

it 

1805 

Bellefonte 

it 

ib. 

Greersburg 

ti 

1806 

Wilkesbarre 

i€ 

1807 

Meadvitle 

it 

ib. 

Harrisburg 

<( 

1809 

Grecnsburg 

it 

1810 

Somerset 

ft 

ib. 

Gettysburg 

it 

ib. 

Bedford i 

66 

ib. 

Greene 

H 

ib. 

Butler 

i6 

ib. 

Chester 

66 

1811 

Mercer 

6t 

ib. 

Williamsport 

i6 

ib. 

Erie 

66 

ib. 

Waterford 

6< 

ib. 

Loller 

6i 

1812 

Tenango 

66 

ib. 

Delaware 

«( 

1813 

Beachwood 

U 

ib. 

Franklin 

it 

ib. 

Athens 

66 

ib. 

Orwigsburg 

66 

ib. 

Allentown 

66 

ib. 


11 


Indiana 

Academy 

1814 

Stroudsburg 

u 

ib. 

Lewistown 

(( 

ib. 

Lebanon 

66 

1816 

Huntingdon 

6t 

ib. 

Susquehanna 

66 

ib. 

Wellsborough 

66 

1817 

Danville 

66 

1818 

Ebensburg 

(( 

1819 

Kittanning 

(( 

1821 

Warren 

( c 

1822 

Strasburg 

66 

1823 

Clearfield 

66 

1827 

Milford 

t% 

ib. 

Miffiinsburg 

66 

ib. 

Union 

66 

ib. 

Lancaster 

66 

ib. 

Smethsport 

66 

1829 

Le Raysville 

6{ 

1830 

Dundaff 

66 

ib. 


^ xurvrirv i 


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